The ban, which attracted condemnation from many world leaders and organisations, came into place on June 5 of 2021, after the US-based micro-blogging platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating its rules. The said tweet referenced the 1967–1970 Biafran war, which the Nigerian Government won by starving over 1 million civilians to death, with Buhari promising to deal with sections, especially members of the Indigenous People Biafra (IPOB), in the same manner.
Many did not take kindly to such a genocidal statement and reported the tweet massively, leading to its removal. Exactly three days after, the Government banned Twitter for having double standards and allowing the spread of fake news that undermines the country’s corporate existence while denying it was connected to the tweet removal. Despite the outcry over violation of freedom of speech, the Government insisted it will only reverse the ban if Twitter agrees to its terms and conditions of operation, including tax obligation, registration with Nigerian authorities, and respecting Nigerian laws.
Stubbornly, many Nigerians refused to abandon Twitter and massively installed VPN to circumvent the ban, despite threats of arrest by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. #TwitterBan #NigeriaTwitterBan #Tinubu2023
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